


Monster Versus Robot

by ClothesBeam



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Crime Fighting, Detectives, Other, references to cannibalism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-08-24 11:26:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16639100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClothesBeam/pseuds/ClothesBeam
Summary: Who investigates the investigative journalist?Eddie had thought being the one to cover the story on the discovered… remains… Venom tended to leave behind would help him keep them in the clear. Unfortunately he’s only invited law enforcement to come knocking on their door.Too bad the android type of law enforcement sticks ever so painfully in the symbiote’s teeth.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I kept seeing random Venom fanart on Tumblr and thinking Eddie was Gavin and getting very confused. Then I actually went to see the movie. Then this fic was born.  
> The violence / references to cannibalism aren't that bad, but I thought it'd be better to mark it as such for the people who are primarily here for the DBH aspect.

_Saturday 6 August 2039, 8:47PM PST_

“Facial scan is a 98% match for Edward Charles Allan Brock, freelance investigative journalist. It appears this is our man, Detective Reed.”

Gavin raised a brow as he shifted in the car seat, uncomfortable. If he had have known they’d be spending so much time on stakeouts for this special assignment, he’d never have agreed to doing it in the first place. In retrospect, it was pretty obvious Fowler had just sent him across the country because he’d been trying to get him out of his figurative hair for a while.

“‘Detective Reed’? What crawled up your ass, Nine?”

The indicative LED on the android’s forehead flashed from steady blue to yellow for a moment before he spoke. “I told you, we won’t be able to remain partners in a professional sense if it becomes obvious we are becoming partners in a private sense,” the android replied quietly.

Gavin shifted uncomfortably again, for a different reason this time. God but the android rights revolution had only happened a little under a year ago. Secrecy wasn’t really his style, but among other things, he couldn’t stand the thought of being known as a robot fucker.

“Anyway, if this guy is meant to be our contact on the case, why are we staking him out? Is he honestly a suspect in these murders?”

“The situation is strange. The evidence is inconclusive, but the possibility is still there. The potential danger of investigating this case is the reason we were dragged all the way over here from Detroit,” Nine reminded. Androids were generally harder to kill than people, and they were one of the first human-android detective teams to work in an official capacity.

Gavin waved a hand impatiently. “Yeah, yeah, all right. Let’s go talk to him then. He’s expecting us to show any minute now.”

They exited the unmarked car and made their way over to the old apartment building. The place looked pretty rundown, and Gavin honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he eventually learnt all the evidence pointing to Brock was actually connected to someone else that lived here. Still, it was far too early to be putting any stock in assumptions like that.

Gavin took out his phone and called the number he’d been given for their contact in San Francisco. It only rang a few times before it was noisily picked up.

“ _Eddie speaking._ ”

Nine was busy scanning their environment and watching his back. Gavin turned his full attention to the conversation.

“Hi, uh, Eddie? Your friendly, not quite neighbourhood, detectives are here. Which apartment is yours?”

There was more shuffling around on the other end of the phone and a muffled ‘ _Shut it!’_ before Gavin got a reply that seemed to actually be directed at him. “ _Oh right, I-I should’ve expected you to be punctual. I’ll be down in a second and show you, it’s easier that way.”_

“All right, thanks,” Gavin began, but he was pretty sure the guy had already hung up before he’d managed to get half of it out. “Sounds like he has a roommate?” Gavin commented.

“There was nothing in the files about that,” Nine confirmed without needing to be asked directly. He didn’t need to say they should be careful of the possibility of an attack. “According to rental records, and information we’ve previously picked up, he lives alone.”

“Maybe he was talking to a pet or something?” Gavin replied. To be fair, he hadn’t actually heard anyone else talking at the other end.

Nine hummed in acknowledgement of his words, but didn’t say anything further. The fact he got any kind of acknowledgement was an improvement on how things used to be between them.

When Nine looked up in the direction of the apartment building’s nearest entrance, Gavin followed suit. The man they’d just watched arrive home was standing in the doorway. He seemed to spot the LEDs in Nine’s uniform that marked him as an android first, then waved to them.

It wasn’t that androids had to wear clothing like that anymore, not since the revolution. But Nine always insisted he wasn’t interested in pretending to be a human, and that he shouldn’t have to in order to have his personhood respected.

“Looks like you pretty well found us – me – already,” Brock called, referring to the fact they were already waiting at the entrance closest to where his apartment was. Gavin took note of the weird slip but didn’t comment.

“Lucky guess,” Nine replied flatly, making it clear it was anything but. Even without advanced human relations software, Gavin noted the way the journalist looked to the side nervously, then cocked his eyebrow as though something more had been added to the conversation outside his hearing range.

“Come on then, we’d better get this over with. I’ve been trying to sleep on a proper schedule for once.” Again, after a beat the man’s brows twitched down into a frown as though someone had added something.

If the guy was actually as nuts as he looked, then Gavin wasn’t sure how accurate any evidence he had could be. Fowler had better not have just sent them on some wild goose chase.

Gavin and Nine followed Brock up the stairs and down a narrow hallway. The first thing he noticed was how incredibly thin the walls were here. There was a lot of noise, even for a Saturday night.

When they reached the end of the hall, Brock propped the door open for them and gestured for them to enter. Nine hung back, so Gavin went ahead first. He glanced around the apartment, automatically trying to catalogue as many details as he could, even though Nine had literally picture perfect memory they could refer to later.

The place was messy, but not overly dirty. The small kitchen was a little messier than the rest of the place, and Gavin could smell something was in the oven, which was a little strange considering the man had apparently been home for less than a few minutes before they’d bothered him.

“So, your latest piece covers a serial killer?” Gavin began, hoping the assumption would trigger the journalist to correct him, though he didn’t seem to be that pedantic.

“Well I mean, I don’t know if it’s a serial killer,” he said quickly. Gavin glanced at Nine. His neutral expression indicated the man was nervous, though probably not outright lying. “But there has been a pattern of really weirdly brutal deaths.”

‘Deaths’, not ‘murders’, Gavin noted.

Nine stepped forward and held up the tablet computer that stored their case information. “Local authorities have given us several photos from the last six months of the known victims. The reoccurring theme seems to be victims missing their heads, and occasionally other internal organs. In any case, the method of decapitation is unclear, and not a single one of the victims’ heads have ever been located.”

After working in the homicide division for several years, Gavin had seen more than his fair share of messed up shit. But the photos were still haunting, what with the way the victims looked like they had been torn apart and bitten into by an impossibly large maw. Nine flicked to a close up of a victim’s neck.

“The way the flesh is torn is reminiscent of shark tooth marks. But obviously no known wild land animal has the ability to bite a human head clean off,” Nine said. “At least, none that I know of that would be living in San Francisco.” He was clearly searching for and cataloguing the journalist’s reactions.

The man’s expression changed a few times before settling on discomfort. “Right, it’s pretty well a mystery,” he agreed.

Whatever Nine had measured in his expressions had made him suspicious. He suddenly became much more forward in his questioning. “Is there anything you know about this that the authorities don’t?”

“Well, I mean, I don’t think so?” Brock replied. “Hey, why don’t the two of you have a seat? I’m feeling like a terrible host, haha, right now.”

Gavin and Nine looked at each other. He didn’t need Nine’s fancy software to know something was wrong. Who laughed, even if it was nervously, when talking about something like this?

Nine firmly laid the tablet on the kitchen bench, and although he didn’t actually roll his sleeves up, Gavin definitely got the same sort of impression. It looked like it was time for ‘pressure them ‘til they squeal’ mode.

“We will be the ones asking the questions if it’s all the same to you, Mister Brock,” he said sharply as he began to advance.

The journalist was frozen, seemingly by indecision. Nine continued to press.

“Do you believe in the death penalty, Mister Brock?” Nine asked calmly. Of course, of the bodies that were able to be identified, the majority of them were known criminals.

The journalist took half a step back, and seemed to start sweating even more profusely than he had been before. “Well I mean, it’s not up to me to be making decisions like that, huh?”

“No,” Nine agreed. “But hypothetically, if you did have the ability,” he paused and looked Brock up and down again, “the power to decide such a thing for yourself, what would you do?”

“Uh, um… I think I need Annie here? A lawyer,” he elaborated. “They don’t know, calm down!” he hissed afterward, and Gavin assumed that had meant to stay within the confines of his own head.

Great, so he really was completely nuts.

Nine shoved Brock into the nearest dining chair, then slapped a hand down on the rickety table. The tactic reminded him of Connor. _Twenty-eight stab wounds_ didn’t quite live up to the severity and creepiness of this case, though.

“Let me ask you another personal question, Mister Brock,” Nine continued as he bent over their terrified suspect. Gavin almost felt sorry for the guy, but fucked if he was able to convincingly play ‘good cop’. “Do you take any joy in modifying androids?”

A second ago Brock had looked like he’d been about to piss himself, but now he just looked totally confused. “ _What_?”

Nine bent down to speak directly into his face again, and the journalist jumped at the sudden movement, making the chair legs give an ugly scrape along the lino flooring. “No organic creature on Earth could do something like that. But machinery?”

“N-no! I don’t know anything about computers and that shit!”

“Then what do you know that no one else does?”

Brock looked away and stayed silent, and even though his expression twitched occasionally, it didn’t seem he was going to be the one to crack first. Nine’s mouth tightened as he straightened up. He adjusted his sleeves and turned away slightly so he could meet Gavin’s eye.

“‘Annie’? Presumably he was referring to Anne Weying. Lawyer, currently working to provide legal services to the disadvantaged. I think she should be our next port of call, in any case,” Nine said evenly.

Gavin barely had time to blink before ropes of pitch dark flesh and rows of horrifyingly sharp teeth filled the space their suspect had been in. He stumbled back and fumbled for his gun, the low calibre pistol suddenly making him feel terribly underarmed.

Possibly more frighteningly, Nine only had time to move his head just enough to let the teeth sink into his shoulder and upper arm instead of his head. He was flung across the room like a rabid dog’s chew toy, and he hit the wall hard. Blue blood sprayed from where the equivalent of an android artery had been bitten into, but Gavin didn’t have time to wonder whether he’d be able to get back to his feet again. The monster was coming for him now.

He stumbled back into the kitchen bench and let off a shot that did absolutely nothing to slow the thing down. Another gun fired and Gavin saw the hole briefly appear in the thing’s long tongue. It pulled up short and hunched over to take a protective hold of its wounded part, which didn’t stay that way for long.

“Gavin! Go!” Nine yelled from where he was trying to stay on his feet as he shuffled across the room.

Gavin tried to take the chance to at least move further away from the monster, but he found himself pinned to the benchtop before he had the chance to take a step. His wrist was twisted until his gun clattered to the floor, but the thing’s tongue had vanished back into its mouth anyway. When the rest of its body seemed to be invulnerable to his weapon, it didn’t seem to matter.

“You go! You’re the one who has the evidence that this thing exists!” Gavin managed to say despite being terrified for his life. He could feel his heart pounding somewhere around his throat and he couldn’t stop shaking. He’d been expecting a freaky situation to tie all the evidence together, but this was too much.

The thing straightened, as though Gavin’s words had reminded it of who the real threat was. Before it could turn to look at Nine, two hands reached from behind and grabbed it by the top half of its maw.

The further Nine pulled, the more it screeched and the more the teeth dug into his hands and made him bleed. Gavin stared up into its mouth and realised Brock was now staring back, looking equally as terrified. That was the only thing that made Gavin hesitate to raise his gun to the clearly human part of the monster.

Nine wrenched back further until his damaged joints began to grind together audibly. There was a sick wet sound, and the resistance suddenly gave way as Nine separated the monster from what seemed to be its human host. Nine used the momentum to fling it across the room, where the black goop splattered against the opposite wall.

It immediately began to shift back toward them, however it was a blob of goo moved around, but Nine was faster. He held the gun to Brock’s head, which wasn’t difficult since the journalist was still kneeling beside them and looking dazed.

“Don’t come any closer or I’ll shoot!” Nine warned.

It did hesitate, and seemed to fidget as it moved side to side instead. “Oh no, no, nonono…” Brock mumbled as he attempted to crawl toward the pile of goo.

“What is that thing?” Gavin muttered as he took hold of the hood of the man’s jumper, effectively preventing him from getting closer to it in his whacked out state.

“Please, please, without a host he’ll die,” Brock babbled, and continued trying to inch his hand closer to it. “He needs me and I need him.”

“You almost _killed_ us,” Gavin said. “We can’t trust you to…” he made a face, “be its host again.” Whatever the fuck that was supposed to mean. He didn’t have time to disbelieve what his eyes were telling him when he’d come so close to being murdered by it. Possibly _eaten_ by it…

The longer the thing remained out in the air for, the more it seemed to wilt into itself. Brock only became more desperate. “I promise we won’t hurt you again, please, don’t let him die!”

This was getting pathetic now. Gavin looked at Nine, and opened his mouth to try and convince him to do what Brock said. But the android’s face wasn’t totally devoid of compassion when he pushed Brock forward and lowered his gun.

The blob immediately darted forward and Brock stayed kneeling on the ground as he stretched his hand out. The inky blob surrounded his arm and then sank into his skin. Brock gave a relieved sigh and rested his hands over his stomach.

“We’re ok now,” he mumbled. “You just rest in there, I told you I’d deal with this.”

“Edward Brock,” Nine began, and his hand clenched around the gun yet again. “You’re under—” Brock was wrapped up by the monster once again, which used its inhuman speed to launch itself out of the window and into the night. “…Arrest...”

There was a terrible crunch of metal before the thunderous footsteps disappeared beneath an alarm. Gavin cautiously walked over to the window and peered out at the street below. The bonnet of their car was caved in and a wheel was missing. The hazard lights were going off just as crazily as the alarm.

“Motherfucker,” Gavin muttered.

“Things could have turned out worse,” Nine replied quietly as he dug his fingers around inside his own wound, clipping off the broken thirium tubes to reduce his level of blood loss.

“Let’s get you fixed up,” Gavin replied as he tried not to make a face at the gruesome sight. First they needed to organise the evidence they had. Then they needed to catch this guy.

But all that could wait until his partner had been fixed up.

“Don't forget to turn the oven off,” Nine commented dryly.


	2. Chapter 2

_Sunday 7 August 2039, 5:54 AM_

Eddie mumbled something wordless as he felt an elbow dig into his side. He frowned at the feeling of soft sheets and a warm body resting between his arms and legs. This was all very wrong.

The last thing he remembered from last night was fleeing for their life down back streets and alleyways. Maybe this was a dream, then? That kind of smelled like Annie’s hair…

“ _Eddie!_ ” her familiar voice hissed as the elbow returned to his ribs, a little more firmly this time. “What the hell are you doing?”

Eddie blinked his eyes open, then leaned back a bit when all he could see was a blur of blonde hair and pink sheets. An inkling of how he’d ended up here dribbled in, but he was too busy furiously denying it to continue the train of thought. He was so embarrassed.

 _How?_ Eddie demanded of his permanent roommate. Or, not so permanent, as he’d been violently reminded of last night. _Why!?_

 _Protect_ , the symbiote replied simply. A memory of biting into the robot detective’s shoulder was pushed to the front of Eddie’s mind. He closed his eyes tight again when he felt the phantom pain in his own gums. Too many pointy bits and weird chemicals to be chowing down on.

Anne tried to shove him off her, reminding Eddie that he couldn’t be caught up in his own head right now. When he thought about it, his limbs and body were positioned strategically to protect her vital organs, even if the overall result was a terribly awkward position to be holding with one’s ex-fiancée.

“Now Eddie, I’m not the jealous type, but don’t you think this is going a bit far?” Dan reprimanded, albeit patiently, from Annie’s other side. Somehow Eddie was unsurprised to discover the man wore tartan flannel PJs to bed. “How did you even get in here without us noticing?”

Eddie rounded up enough brain cells to remove his limbs from Anne’s vicinity and sit up. He was very close to the edge of the bed, so it took the bit of coordination he wasn’t sure he had to ensure he didn’t fall off.

The symbiote emerged from his shoulder to stare down at the two of them. It really said something that neither of them even flinched.

“We… we had a run in with some cops last night,” Eddie began hesitantly. “They were sniffing around about all the people that… you know…” This was really hard to get out.

“The robot identified you just from hearing your name,” the symbiote added impatiently.

“We had to make sure they wouldn’t really show up here.”

“Protect.”

Anne and Dan looked at each other. “So Venom dragged you here?” Anne asked bluntly. “That’s slightly less weird.”

The symbiote sank back into his skin now that everyone had calmed down. “What are we going to do, Annie? They know my name and face, and they saw Venom. And…” Eddie shuddered and drew his arms around himself. “And they know how to separate us.”

This time she did look honestly concerned. “How did they do that? Soundwaves?”

Eddie had a vision of the Transformer, and shook his head sharply. “No, the Terminator just ripped us apart. It was painful, like every cell was splitting apart.”

 _I protected you from the worst of it,_ the symbiote admitted. Eddie somehow came to the understanding that the symbiote had done something to his nerves so his brain wouldn’t register the pain firsthand. _And that’s essentially what happened. We_ are _connected at the cellular level._

“Are you all right now?” Anne asked quietly.

Eddie gave a tiny shrug. “We survived, and we’re a ‘we’ again, so I guess things could be worse.” Eddie chewed on his bottom lip and scratched at his stubble absently. “Say, you looking for work at the moment, Annie?”

Anne let out a sigh. “I’ve told you before, I don’t have much to do with criminal law. But why did you agree to meet with them in the first place?”

“I covered the mysterious carnage story, under a pseudonym of course, in the hope I could control what information got out. Unfortunately my employer gave the cops my real name when asked. At that point I thought it’d be more suspicious to refuse an interview.” Eddie groaned again. “And now they even know where I live, so I can’t go home!”

Anne sighed heavily as she sat up as well. “Then why don’t we continue this over breakfast?”

* * *

 

_6:20 AM_

Gavin woke from his light, restless sleep the moment he heard the hotel door close softly behind him. He turned over to see Nine had returned from the local station, his body and clothing fully repaired.

“It took them all night?” Gavin asked as he sat up.

“No,” Nine replied evenly as he approached the bedside. Now that he’d finished looking for damage, he could see Nine was holding a disposable coffee cup and a paper bag containing something that smelled good. “I knew I’d wake you up the minute I stepped foot in here. I got you some breakfast.”

Gavin was surprised. Usually Nine complained about the fact he had to eat several times a day, and how it interrupted their work. The same was true for the fact he had to sleep. And shower regularly…

“Well, thanks,” Gavin said as he shuffled into a more comfortable sitting position and took the cup Nine was offering. The bag ended up on the bedside table, and Nine sat on the edge of his bed. “Are you doing ok?”

“Yes, they wouldn’t have let me leave until I was fully functional again. You?”

That wasn’t what Gavin had meant, and he knew Nine wasn’t that dense. He let him avoid the question for now. “I’m fine, you’re the one who got attacked.”

“You almost died as well,” Nine reminded. A gentle hand rested against Gavin’s jaw and neck, and he realised Nine was taking his pulse to make sure it lined up with his visual readings. “You’re still showing signs of elevated stress.”

“Of course I am!” Gavin exclaimed in an attempt to draw attention away from his flushing face. “What if that thing decides to hunt us down?”

“I won’t allow that to happen,” Nine murmured. He glanced down at Gavin’s mouth before moving in for a chaste kiss.

Nine had only kissed him once before, and never in a situation like this. Not only was Gavin in bed in his underwear, but all of this stank of domesticity. Nine leant back after a moment, searching his expression for his reaction.

Gavin looked away and took a sip of his coffee. He wasn’t sure what Nine got out of things like this, and assumed he just did what he thought Gavin wanted from him.

Honestly, did he even have genitalia? It seemed rude to ask.

“Well, thanks,” he said, raising the coffee slightly. “You didn’t have to go to the trouble.”

Nine withdrew at his apparently lukewarm reaction. Gavin couldn’t help but feel he’d stuffed something up.

“We should focus on locating and questioning the lawyer today,” he said, back to business again. Nine stood up and moved across the room to bend over his own bags. “I haven’t officially registered my internal recordings of yesterday’s events as evidence, yet. I wanted to return quickly.”

To make sure he was all right, Gavin realised. “I appreciate it, but maybe you should have taken the time out. What if that thing manages to do more damage next time?”

“Well, we know their weakness now. We just need to find a way to detain the goo so we can perform an arrest. Brock’s own coverage of the Life Foundation and its previous CEO has given me a few thoughts on other leads we can follow.” Nine zipped up his bag again and stood.

“The Life Foundation? Cyber Life? Wow, real creative naming convention we have going on there. Wonder if Kamski knew the guy?”

Nine’s LED indicator flashed yellow as he considered that. “A tenuous connection, but an interesting thought. Drake and Kamski would have been working as academics in similar fields around the same time. There was a very large and influential conference on biological sciences being applied to robotics in 2027. I’ll see if I can find evidence of them having met or keeping contact afterwards.”

Gavin had meant his comment in an offhanded way, but Nine had actually taken him seriously. That wasn’t like him either. “Look, that wasn’t the first time I’ve nearly died on the job. If you’re feeling guilty or whatever, then don’t.”

Nine’s brows rose slightly before he adopted his usual neutral expression. Gavin guessed he’d come pretty close to hitting the nail on the head. “I suppose I was just reminded of your mortality,” he admitted. “Now, we should get to work on our stronger lead. I have the address.”

“Right,” Gavin agreed. That was enough weirdness out of Nine to be dealing with for one day.

* * *

 

_8:31 AM_

Nine came to a halt in front of the correct apartment and stiffly pressed his finger to the doorbell. Gavin’s reactions from earlier this morning were bothering him, but he couldn’t let it interfere with their work. Particularly not when they were working on such a dangerous and significant case.

A few moments later he rang the doorbell again. This time he heard footsteps in the hallway. “Coming!” a man’s voice called from inside.

Nine glanced at Gavin, but it seemed neither of them had ID’d him as Brock. This lawyer was seeing someone, perhaps?

The door opened and a man poked his head out. A nervous smile was plastered across his face. “Hello?”

“Good morning,” Nine greeted. “Detective Reed and myself are here on special police business. Would a Ms Anne Weying be here?”

“Er, yes, of course. Perhaps you should come in?” Even though he’d asked, it seemed he wanted them to decline.

“Thank you,” Nine said as he pushed his way past the man and into the hallway.

A woman with blonde hair stood at the other end of it, looking slightly ruffled. She was a near perfect match to Anne Weying in his facial recognition database. Her eyes kept hinting at darting to the side, as though she was trying to not look at something.

Nine sent a short message to Gavin’s phone. _He’s here. They’re protecting him._

And he could only hope that meant they weren’t about to get jumped again.

“Shall we sit down, Ms Weying? This might take a while,” Nine continued. The longer he controlled the situation, the better things would turn out.

“Of course,” she replied carefully. Her eyes were sharp as she turned away and led him into the kitchen. “Would you, rather, your partner, like something to drink?”

Gavin had been trying to use the distraction Nine was providing to meander around and see as much of the apartment as possible. It seemed she had noticed this, and was quietly calling them out for it.

Perhaps this wasn’t going to be as simple as they’d hoped.


End file.
